The
third time is definitely the charm in the case of
The Two Thrones. Let's hope this game actually sells!
by StewXX

December
6, 2005 - For
fans of the Sands of Time series this third version
wraps everything up in a grand finale worthy of a
royal celebration. It's only fitting that the prince-that-would-be-king
rewards his loyal subjects with more action and adventure
that has made The Prince of Persia series a resounding
success throughout the gaming kingdom.

All
of the game's elements mesh, from the music to the
storyline, from the puzzles to the control system.
I can't find anything nasty to say about this game.
Ubisoft have certainly done their homework. They've
managed to retain the essence of the series without
being redundant. Some new features have been added
that really help to hasten the pace. Environmental
puzzles are back and trickier than ever. The prince
is in prime form with some new abilities - and a whole
new side to him that we've never seen before.

The
storyline has always been an integral part of the
series. The story in this version requires that you
have some knowledge of the last two games. I won't
go into too much detail here but if you want to go
back and verify the endings for yourself, skip the
next paragraph.

Returning
home to Babylon from his last adventure, the prince
is bringing his new love, Kaileena, with him to reclaim
his kingdom. Yes, she is alive. Remember those sands
of time? Upon his return he finds the kingdom in the
grips of civil unrest. He and Kaileena are taken prisoner
and Kaileena is murdered, releasing the sands of time
throughout the empire. Collecting the sands, the prince
will avenge his lover's death and regain control of
the kingdom. It goes without saying that there is
going to be a lot of revenge - and that means bloodshed.

The
prince is endowed with the moves of an acrobat. He
can scale to great heights, run up walls, jump and
swing from platform to platform, employ stealth, dodge
traps and perform vicious kills. All of the move commands
are responsive and satisfying with an arcade-style
of forgiveness that never so much as hinders the challenge.
These moves will serve him well for platforming and
puzzles solving. The rooftops in this Middle-Eastern-flavored
city are the prince's playground. He uses the height
to spy on his enemies and runs and jumps from one
roof to the other like an Arabic Spider-Man.

The
puzzles are similar to those found in Tomb Raider.
They are environmentally based and require skillful
manipulation of the character to jump over pitfalls,
throw switches and react to the sometime changing
design layouts. There are plenty of annoying trial
and error situations but as long as you have some
sand, you can rewind a little and perform the action
correctly. It's a great gimmick but I feel some time
that it's a bit overused, as if the developers feel
compelled to include more such situations which are
virtually impossible to complete the first time through
just so we have an excuse to acquire more sand.